TMO’s Mac & iOS Black Friday Guide [UPDATED]

Black Friday! A name to conjure up nightmares of hellish landscapes riddled with monstrous creatures known the world over as "shoppers." Riotous queues, stampedes, and everywhere, the dreaded "other shopper," all elbows, knees, and snarling teeth gnashing their demand to buy MOAR!

Fortunately, TMO is here to help mitigate this event. We're gathering all the information we can on Mac and iOS-related Black Friday sales that will begin on Friday morning, and we're posting it here.

Many Black Friday sales have already been announced, and others, like Apple, won't unveil details of their shopping extravaganza until Friday itself. Accordingly, we'll update this article with new information as it becomes available.

We've added several more sales—the original ones are listed below the updates.

Update Mid-morning on Friday

The Apple Store has cast their lot into the mix today, too, of course. The 4th Gen iPad is now $458 ($41 off), the iPad 2 is now $368 ($31 off). You can save $31 off a current gen iPod touch, and a whopping $101 off of a MacBook Pro (retina or standard) or MacBook Air. Definitely a day to buy some Apple stuff!

And while we're at it with Apple stuff, MacMall has some not-to-be-beat prices in their "Door Busters" category. But check it out, because a lot of the good stuff has already sold out! Even still, MacMall currently has the best prices we're finding on Apple laptops (even if they only do beat Amazon by a penny!). The 13.3" MacBook Air is $1,093.99, the 11.6" is $893.98. Good prices, and if you're in the market for these, check these MacMall deals out before they, too, are gone.

Also remember that sales tax will factor in here, based on delivery address, and that especially matters when choosing higher-ticket items like these above. The Apple Store (and Best Buy) charge sales tax in every state that has sales tax. MacMall only has to charge in CA, IL, NY, TN, MN, GA, NC, and WI. And Amazon has to charge in CA, NY, TX, PA, KS, KY, ND, and WA.

Update

Elgato is offering $50 off the eyetv HD, a high definition video recorder for component video for your Mac, and the eyetv hybrid, a TV tuner stick for HDTV and analog TV for your Mac portable. The eyetv HD is $149.95 with the discount, while eyetv hybrid is $99.95. The sale ends November 26th.

MacTech is offering subscriptions to its magazine for $19.99, a bit less than 90 percent off the newsstand price. You'll get the iPad version for free with the print subscription, which is also part of the Black Friday special. In a delightful move that seems rare these days, existing subscribers can extend their subscriptions with this offer. We aren't sure when the offer ends, but it's usually best not to dawdle on these things.

BearExtender is offering a Black Friday Bundle that includes the BearExtender Mini, a 16-foot extension cable, a +5 dBi antenna, and a soft carry case for 27 percent off. Technically the Mini is 40 percent off, but the total bundle is priced at $54.97, $20 off the regular $74.97 price. Offer ends midnight on November 23rd (Friday).

Native Instruments is offering a "Thanksgiving sales special," rather than a Black Friday thing, but let's not be nit picky because it's a good deal. Until November 26 you can get KOMPLETE Instruments and Effects, MASCHINE Expansions and TRAKTOR PRO DJ for the Mac for 50 percent off the original price. iMASCHINE for iPhone is priced at $0.99, 80 percent off. The sale ends on November 26th.

Best Buy is offering discounts on Apple's Wi-Fi Retina Display iPad and iPad 2 Friday only. The 16GB iPad is discounted $45 to $454.99, the 32GB model is reduced $55 to $544.99, and the 64GB model is discounted $65 to $634.99. Shoppers can pick up the 16GB Wi-Fi iPad 2 for $369.99, and the 16GB Wi-Fi plus 3G model for $499.99 -- that's $30 off each model.

Amazon usually goes balls out for Black Friday, and the online retailing giant has done so again this year. In fact, they started "Black Friday Deals Week" earlier this week, with new items being added every day. It's kind of out of hand. There's stuff listed now, and there will MOAR stuff on Friday.

Blizzard is in on the fun, too. The gaming giant is offering $20 off this week only on Starcraft II and Diablo 3. Starcraft II is $19.99, while Diablo III is $39.99. The offer ends November 27th, and is available now. Note that the discount is on each product, so you can buy just one, or save a total of $40 if you buy both of them.

Barnes & Noble is offering the Nook Simple Touch for $59 "while supplies last." That's in-store only. The Nook Simply Touch is an E Ink reader that reads Epub files and ebooks from Barnes & Noble's Nook store. There are some other specials listed on the Black Friday page, including discounts on children's books DVD and Blu-ray movies and TV shows, and toys.

Apple reseller Expercom is holding a two day sale on Friday and Saturday. They're offering discounts on Macs and Mac accessories.

Target is offering the fourth generation 32GB iPod touch for US$249 and tossing in a $20 Target gift card for free. Even without the gift card, the fourth gen model costs less than the current wide screen fifth generation model, and you can use the gift card at checkout to drop the price down to $229.

Walmart is offering the seventh generation iPod nano for $139 with a free accessory kit. The kit includes a USB car charger, headphone splitter, mini USB cable, and an audio cable, too.

I had a devil of a time placing an order at the Apple Online Store, I am thinking that the servers were busy. I waited a bit and then it went through.

I bought myself an Apple Wireless Keyboard and one of the new Apple Earpods. I had planned on getting my wife an iPad, either a full sized one or a mini, but she said she was happy with her iPhone and MacBook Pro. This is a sea change from last year when she commandeered my iPad to use while she was taking some college classes; back then I couldn’t pry it out of her hands with the jaws of life.